This post is an update to our recent post on FAQs regarding Round II to update information regarding the submittal date to change your waitpool school. We have just heard from the EPC that the information that they had formally given us is inaccurate. The accurate key dates are as follows. Key Dates
• Friday May 9th: Deadline to Register at your assigned school.
• Friday May 9th. Deadline to change your designated waitpool school.
• Friday May 16th. According to the Director of the EPC, applications will be accepted until this date as a “grace period.”
• Friday May 23rd. Waitpool assignment letters will be mailed home.
• Tuesday May 27th. Open Enrollment Begins.
I apologize for the confusion and misinformation. We went to great lengths to confirm all of our posts and reconfirm the deadlines. If you are considering changing your waitpool school I would advise doing so by May 9th.
Waitpools
1. Is there a deadline to change your waitpool school before the next waitpools are run?
Yes, deadline to change your waitpool school for the next waitpool run is Friday May 9th, however, according the EPC director applications will be accepted till May 16th as a "grace period.” If you are considering changing your waitpool school I would advise doing so by May 9th. Waitpools will be run the week of May 19th and letters will be sent on May 23rd.
2. Will there be a second wave of letters sent after the May 23rd waitpool run before Open Enrollment?
Yes. The Educational Placement Center will be sending letters again on May 23 as a result of the latest waitpool run which will be done during the week of May 19th. Letters will continue to be mailed throughout the summer offering assignments to people on the waitpool when openings are made available. Once school starts, the Educational Placement Center will call individual households to offer assignments.
3. If you are granted an appeal status can you change your waitpool school and still retain your appeal status or is this designation tied to the original waitpool choice?
Yes, you can change your waitpool school without loosing your appeal status. If you are granted appeal status, your cohort changes to a higher priority, but you can still change schools. For example there are 70 people in the waitpool at Alice Fong Yu, and 7 of them have medical/hardship status – that’s still hard odds to beat – some of them may eventually want to consider changing their wait pool choice.
4. If you get your waitpool choice can you then waitpool at another school that you might prefer more than your original choice?
No, once you get your waitpool school you are considered done. You cannot participate in the waitpool process again.
Amended List
5. I put down schools on my amended list that did not have any waitpools. Why wasn’t I given one of these schools? (ie New Traditions, Sunnyside, Lafayette).
In many cases the assignment system over enrolled schools assuming that some people will release their spots. These schools are considered full but do not have waitpools and will not have openings until spots are released.
6. Can a child who had lower priority than my child get assigned a school off of their waitpool list ahead of me?
No, you will be assigned before a person in a lower cohort. The only exception to this is in the case of two-way immersion schools. In the case of two-way immersion programs, language status is a consideration. For example, if the school needs to fill slots for non-Spanish speakers it may place a non-spanish speaker from a lower priority cohort rather than a Spanish speaker in a higher priority cohort.
Open Enrollment.
7. Will there be openings during Open Enrollment?
Yes, there will be openings at schools during Open Enrollment. Parents can request a placement at a school that has an opening and no waitpool.
Over Enrolled Schools
8. How can we know how much a school is overenrolled?
You can ask the EPC. This is one good reason to establish a relationship with the EPC so that you can be kept well informed of the over enrollment status of certain schools.
9. How can you tell right now if there are openings at a school rather than over enrolled?
You can’t without talking with the EPC.
Transfers and Children New to the System
10. If a child is enrolled and attending a San Francisco Public School will this child have a lower priority than a child who is new to San Francisco Public Schools in the assignment system?
No, children new to San Francisco Public Schools do not have a priority over children already enrolled and attending a Public School in San Francisco.
11. After the 10 day count and the assignment system officially closes (sometime at the end of September – early October) and you hear of an opening in a school you prefer can you be assigned to this school?
No, SFUSD discourages inter-school transfers unless you move or you can show extreme cause. However, they will assign children who are new to SFUSD.
